Homemade Chicken Doner Kebab

Homemade Chicken Doner Kebab!!! Carve it up, just like it’s done at the neon-lit kebab shops, then use it to roll up your very own Doner Kebabs or make kebab plates. A fabulous DIY dinner – and great food to make in vast quantities for feeding a crowd!

It’s practically an Aussie right of passage to do the post-pub midnight kebab run at some point in your life. Usually at the tender age of 18 when we hit the legal drinking limit (*cough, cough, no mum, I never drank a drop before then*). Late night outs with uni friends, being booted out of pubs at closing, drawn like moths to the brightly lit kebab stores.

You’d be hard pressed to find a suburb in Australia without a local kebab shop. Well, at least in the metropolitan areas. Though if there were 2 takeaway shops in a remote town in the Outback of Australia, I’m betting the first would be a fish and chip shop, and the second would be a kebab shop. 🙂

You can’t miss the giant rotisserie of meat that greets you when you walk into a Kebab store. Sometimes, it’s concerning to think about how long it’s been there, lazily rotating around, waiting for the next customer to wander in before being carved.

In kebab shops, they are giant – like the size of a punching bag.

For this homemade Chicken Doner Kebab, we are going a little smaller. Like – 2% of the size. 😂

OK, so it’s smaller, and while some people have a hang up about size, claiming bigger is always better (we can argue about that theory another time), let me state the obvious advantage that this teeny little Homemade Chicken Doner Kebab has over the gigantic hunks at the kebab shop:

You know what’s in this.

Fellow Aussies, be honest. Have you ever looked at the rotisserie and wondered what it was actually made of?? Is it all meat? Really, truly?? I think the chicken one is (she says, dubiously). But the beef / lamb one really looks like it’s been padded out with fillers.

As for seasonings / preservatives etc etc – who knows?? (She says, with an exaggerated shrug of her shoulders)

Well, a teeny version of it.(Remember, for today, the rule is that size doesn’t matter!)

Then use it to make your very own homemade Chicken Doner Kebabs. Good thing I’m blurred in this photo, cause otherwise that ear-splitting grin and too-rosy cheeks would be all you’d see. And the unbrushed hair shoved back into an untidy bun.

Or, make your very own kebab plate! Sometimes I get this instead of Doner Kebabs, just for a change. I love the variety you get on the plates. I’ve served it here with Hummus, Tabbouleh (recipe in notes), tomato, lettuce, Mejadra (Middle Eastern Spiced Lentil Rice that’s so tasty, you can eat it plain) and Lebanese Bread (aka pita bread). This is pretty much the standard selection that comes on Kebab plates.

I have big plans to make a gigantic version of this on a rotisserie on my BBQ this summer. Lamb, beef and chicken. Imagine that!! This really is perfect for making vast quantities of, and laying it all out for people to help themselves.

The great Aussie Doner Kebab. HOMEMADE!! – Nagi x

PS Look, I even begged for one kebab sleeve from my local Kebab shop, just so I could take a truly authentic looking photo of Homemade Chicken Doner Kebab!!!

PPS You know how people say “This homemade version is so good, you’ll never get takeout again!”. I’m guilty of it myself. Well, I haven’t said it for this recipe. Because it would be a total lie. This homemade kebab rocks. But I will be doing a kebab run again. Just being honest!

4.95 from 17 votes

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Homemade Doner Kebab Meat

Prep Time

20mins

Cook Time

55mins

Total Time

1hrs15mins

A homemade version of your favourite Chicken Doner Kebab! You will need 4 long metal skewers for this, around 30cm / 12" long. Recipe VIDEO below.

Choose a pan of a size such that the skewers will stay propped up on the pan walls (see photos in post or video) and the chicken will be elevated off the base. Line with foil.

Remove chicken from fridge. Divide the chicken into 2 piles.

Take one piece of chicken, fold in half then thread onto two skewers (see video). Repeat and push the chicken snugly up against each other. Repeat with other skewer.

Prop the 2 skewers on the edges of the baking pan. Drizzle surface with oil.

Bake for 35 minutes or until the surface is golden with some charred bits (char is good!).

Spoon the pan juices over the chicken. Then turn, drizzle with oil and bake for 20 minutes (or 25 - 30 minutes if you had large thighs). If you need / want more colour, switch to grill/broil for a few minutes on high - I don't do this.

Baste again with pan juices and stand for 5 minutes.

Carving: Stand the skewers upright or on an angle, and slice meat fairly thinly. Use to make Doner Kebabs or Kebab Plates.

Doner Kebabs:

Place a lebanese bread (or pita bread or other flatbread) on a piece of foil. Spread with a generous dollop of Hummus (or yoghurt - Note 2). Top with shredded lettuce, slices of tomato, Tabbouleh (for a truly authentic experience! Note 3), cheese (I usually go this) and Chicken. Drizzle with chilli sauce if desired (I use Sriracha, it's perfect).

4. MAKE AHEAD/STORAGE: Carve up the chicken, then drizzle over half the pan juices. Cover and refrigerate until required, reheat in microwave for minimum time required just to warm through. Use the rest of the pan juices as required to moisten / add extra flavour onto the chicken.

5. SOURCES: Seasoning is something I created, copying the flavour of the chicken at my local kebab shop! I got the idea to do a "rotisserie" in the oven by propping the skewers up on the pan from this recipe, and I watched a bunch of videos on You Tube like this one, and this one and this one. Yes, this is truly how I "come up" with homemade version of my favourite foods!

6. Nutrition per serving, assuming 5 servings, chicken only.

WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT

LIFE OF DOZER

At the local markets – no dogs allow inside so Dozer gets ditched in the Dog Parking Area!!

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Comments

Delicious! We loved this Nagi; I made this ripper doner kerbab with your flatbread and accompaniments and it was a total winner. Mr Beck has leftover chicken for lunch today and I am officially jealous. It was really hard to put the chicken in the flatbread as we kept eating it off the board as he cut it – and the dark bits are the BEST. Thanks for a yum Sunday dinner!

I made this for Sunday dinner last week and it is delicious. Instead of sandwiches I made them plates with the chicken, tabouli, hummus, lettuce, tomato, cucumber, and some feta cheese. The only thing I would do different is separate the thighs a bit on the “spit” so that they will get crispy all over. Where they were budged up against each other was fine, but they didn’t get nice and crispy edges where they touched. I didn’t get nearly the amount of liquid as you did to baste the chicken, but it was still moist.

I also love this technique to create a spit-roaster on the cheap with equipment you likely already have. This will come in handy for a lot of things. Thanks for the idea!

Yum Nagi, this looks delicious! I did home made lamb kebabs last night using your slow roasted lamb leg with lettuce, tomato, cheese (for some), tabouli (from El Jannahs), tzatzikik (bought, Obela’s), hommos (bought, SSS foods), garlic sauce (from the produce markets) and sriacha. I then toasted them using the sandwich press. Really good.
I noticed in your instructions for tabouli that you used 1 car tomato. I don’t understand what that means? Hoping to make this over the weekend 😊

I was so excited to try this recipe, went grocery shopping last night and was making the marinade at midnight. It was well worth it. I made them tonight. So good. So good! My husband raved about them. I’m in Canada and it almost made me want to throw a bbq in this cold just to make these and impress friends! I dare say this is even better than the donairs (how we call them) we get here.